Tid-Bits From Arch Madness

(St. Louis, MO) – The 25^th Edition of Arch Madness is over, and we learned a lot this weekend in downtown St. Louis.

‘America’s Renaissance Conference’ (as Mitch Holthus named it) was on full display and offered a glimpse of the future, with a nod to the past as Illinois State ran to the finals, but lost to Northern Iowa.

The Future

Dan Muller’s Redbirds are a glimpse into the future. ISU is one of the most physical, athletic and skilled I have seen in 17 years of covering this spring time celebration. The size of center Reggie Lynch and forwards Deontae Hawkins, MiKyle McIntosh and John Jones, all bigger that 6’7” and all possessing offensive skill and physical capabilities beyond just height, are the ‘gold standard’ for what it will take to compete in next year’s MVC.

Even their wings, Devaughn Akoon-Purcell and Justin McCloud are 6’4” and are athletic and can score.

The Redbirds will be no less than ranked second in next year’s pre-season poll. We said going into the tournament, ISU could beat one of the top two teams in the league and they pulled off the upset of Wichita State. We look forward to what they’ll accomplish in this coming post-season.

The Past

The wave of former Valley players coaching in the league is a pattern I believe we’ll see continue in the future, because of the glory of the past. Loyola’s Porter Moser and ISU’s Muller are the two current examples. Chris Lowery and Jim Les are samples from the past. But Bryan Mullins, Kavon Lacey, Marcus Belcher, Derrick Tilmon, Brad Korn, Erik Crawford and Terrance McGee are all Valley alumni and several, particularly Korn, Crawford & Belcher have significant experience.

Best Dance Team

Northern Iowa, hands down. I used to emcee drill team competitions and the young ladies from Cedar Falls brought it during the championship game.

Best Pep Band

Wichita State blows the rest of the league away. Their song about going to war with the Shockers is as good as it gets in college basketball. They are creative, interact with the public address announcer and they understand what is going on in the game. A+

Classy Moves

Kudos to the Missouri Valley staff for naming the interview room after the deceased Bryan Burwell. Our town’s award winning sports writer passed away last year and regularly reported on Valley issues and believed in the league. Commissioner Doug Elgin told me one of the highlights of the weekend was Bryan’s wife and daughter attending the Thursday luncheon during the announcement of Bryan’s memorial.

No one is surprised that Elgin and his upper level leaders, Jack Watkins and Mike Kern would be proactive in such a classy and sensitive move.

Depth

Despite some very poor records by some Valley teams, this is one of the deepest cross section of teams in recent history. There is a likely scenario that half of the teams in the MVC will play post-season basketball.

But beyond that, even some of the weaker teams have significant talent. Bradley’s Josh Cunningham, Drake’s Reed Timmer, SIU’s Jordan Caroline and Indiana State’s Brenton Scott make up four of the five members of this year’s All-Freshman team. None of those teams will play post season basketball.

Voices of the Valley

We were pleased to host five live shows called ‘Voices of the Valley’. We had the privilege of talking Valley hoops and history with brilliant play-by-play men Dave Snell, Larry Cotlar, Art Hains, John Fitzgerlad, Dick Luedke, Gary Rima and Mike Kennedy. We were joined by award winning beat writers Carson Tigges, Dave Reynolds, Paul Suellentrop, Jim Benson, Todd Golden and Lyndal Scranton. We barely got to half of the Valley’s best story-tellers.

MVC broadcasters Mitch Holthus, Mark Adams and John Rooney graced our broadcasts, as did CBS’s bracketologist Jerry Palm.

In the midst of running this high level tournament, Commissioner Elgin joined us on Sunday.

We’re grateful to our guests and the Valley staff for giving us time and space to bring those guests to our viewers.

Do Good